Core 2 Duo E6420 vs Core i7-720QM

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Primary details

Comparing Core i7-720QM and Core 2 Duo E6420 processor market type (desktop or notebook), architecture, sales start time and price.

Place in the ranking2422not rated
Place by popularitynot in top-100not in top-100
Market segmentLaptopDesktop processor
SeriesIntel Core i7no data
Power efficiency2.19no data
Architecture codenameClarksfield (2009−2010)Conroe (2006−2007)
Release date24 June 2009 (15 years ago)April 2007 (17 years ago)
Launch price (MSRP)$546no data

Detailed specifications

Core i7-720QM and Core 2 Duo E6420 basic parameters such as number of cores, number of threads, base frequency and turbo boost clock, lithography, cache size and multiplier lock state. These parameters indirectly say of CPU speed, though for more precise assessment you have to consider their test results.

Physical cores4 (Quad-Core)2 (Dual-core)
Threads82
Base clock speed1.6 GHz2.13 GHz
Boost clock speed2.8 GHz2.13 GHz
Bus typeDMI 1.0no data
Bus rate2.5 GT/s1066 MHz
Multiplier12no data
L1 cache256 KB64 KB
L2 cache1 MB4 MB
L3 cache6 MB (shared)0 KB
Chip lithography45 nm65 nm
Die size296 mm2111 mm2
Maximum core temperature100 °C60 °C
Number of transistors774 million167 million
64 bit support++
Windows 11 compatibility--
VID voltage rangeno data0.85V-1.5V

Compatibility

Information on Core i7-720QM and Core 2 Duo E6420 compatibility with other computer components: motherboard (look for socket type), power supply unit (look for power consumption) etc. Useful when planning a future computer configuration or upgrading an existing one. Note that power consumption of some processors can well exceed their nominal TDP, even without overclocking. Some can even double their declared thermals given that the motherboard allows to tune the CPU power parameters.

Number of CPUs in a configuration1 (Uniprocessor)1
SocketFCPGA988,PGA988PLGA775
Power consumption (TDP)45 Watt65 Watt

Technologies and extensions

Technological solutions and additional instructions supported by Core i7-720QM and Core 2 Duo E6420. You'll probably need this information if you require some particular technology.

Instruction set extensionsIntel® SSE4.2no data
vPro+no data
Enhanced SpeedStep (EIST)++
Turbo Boost Technology1.0-
Hyper-Threading Technology+-
Idle States++
Thermal Monitoring++
Demand Based Switchingno data-
PAE36 Bitno data
FSB parityno data-

Security technologies

Core i7-720QM and Core 2 Duo E6420 technologies aimed at improving security, for example, by protecting against hacks.

TXT+-
EDB++

Virtualization technologies

Virtual machine speed-up technologies supported by Core i7-720QM and Core 2 Duo E6420 are enumerated here.

VT-d+no data
VT-x++
EPT+no data

Memory specs

Types, maximum amount and channel quantity of RAM supported by Core i7-720QM and Core 2 Duo E6420. Depending on the motherboard, higher memory frequencies may be supported.

Supported memory typesDDR3-1066, DDR3-1333DDR1, DDR2, DDR3
Maximum memory size8 GBno data
Max memory channels2no data
Maximum memory bandwidth21.335 GB/sno data

Graphics specifications

General parameters of integrated GPUs, if any.

Integrated graphics cardNoneno data

Peripherals

Specifications and connection of peripherals supported by Core i7-720QM and Core 2 Duo E6420.

PCIe version2no data
PCI Express lanes16no data

Synthetic benchmark performance

Various benchmark results of the processors in comparison. Overall score is measured in points in 0-100 range, higher is better.



Passmark

Passmark CPU Mark is a widespread benchmark, consisting of 8 different types of workload, including integer and floating point math, extended instructions, compression, encryption and physics calculation. There is also one separate single-threaded scenario measuring single-core performance.

i7-720QM 1656
+118%
Core 2 Duo E6420 760

GeekBench 5 Single-Core

GeekBench 5 Single-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses only a single CPU core.

i7-720QM 302
+6%
Core 2 Duo E6420 285

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core

GeekBench 5 Multi-Core is a cross-platform application developed in the form of CPU tests that independently recreate certain real-world tasks with which to accurately measure performance. This version uses all available CPU cores.

i7-720QM 845
+64.7%
Core 2 Duo E6420 513

Pros & cons summary


Physical cores 4 2
Threads 8 2
Chip lithography 45 nm 65 nm
Power consumption (TDP) 45 Watt 65 Watt

i7-720QM has 100% more physical cores and 300% more threads, a 44.4% more advanced lithography process, and 44.4% lower power consumption.

We couldn't decide between Core i7-720QM and Core 2 Duo E6420. We've got no test results to judge.

Be aware that Core i7-720QM is a notebook processor while Core 2 Duo E6420 is a desktop one.


Should you still have questions on choice between Core i7-720QM and Core 2 Duo E6420, ask them in Comments section, and we shall answer.

Vote for your favorite

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Intel Core i7-720QM
Core i7-720QM
Intel Core 2 Duo E6420
Core 2 Duo E6420

Similar processor comparisons

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Community ratings

Here you can see how users rate the processors, as well as rate them yourself.


3.5 155 votes

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3.4 50 votes

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Questions & comments

Here you can ask a question about Core i7-720QM or Core 2 Duo E6420, agree or disagree with our judgements, or report an error or mismatch.